One of the best ways to nurture childrenÕs love of reading
is through literature circles.Students meet in small groups to read and discuss self-selected
books.This is a new kind of
Òreading group.Ó

The characteristics of literature circles are:

1)Students
chose their own reading materials from books assembled by the teacher.

2)Students
form small, temporary groups, based on book choice.

3)The
small groups read different books.

4)Groups
meet regularly according to schedules that students set up to discuss their
reading.

5)Students
make notes to guide their reading and discussions.

6)Students
choose topics for the grand conversations and ask open-ended questions during
the discussions.

7)Teachers
are facilitators, not group members or instructors.

8)Teachers
evaluate literature circles by observing students during group meetings and
with information learned through student self-evaluations.

9)The
classroom is a community of learners, and students are actively engaged in
reading and discussing the books they are reading.

10)After
reading a book, students share with their classmates, and then choose new books
to read.

Key Features of Literature Circles:

As
teachers organize for literature circles, they make decisions about choice,
literature, and response.They
structure the program so that students can make choices about the literature
they read, and they develop a plan for response so that students can think
deeply about books they are reading and respond to them.

¯Choice:Students make many choices in
literature circles.They choose
the books they will read and the groups in which they participate.They share in setting the schedule for
reading and discussing the book, and they choose the roles they assume in the
discussions.They also choose how
they will share the book with classmates.

¯Literature:The books chosen for literature circles
should be interesting to students and at their reading level.Books that are likely to lead to good
discussions have interesting plots, richly developed characters, rich language,
and thought-provoking themes.The
books must seem manageable to the students, especially during their first
literature circles so teachers may wish to choose shorter books at first.ItÕs also important that teachers have
read and liked the books because they wonÕt be able to do a convincing book
talk if they havenÕt.

¯Response:Students meet several times during a
literature circle to discuss the book and extend their comprehension of
it.Through these discussions,
students summarize their reading, make personal and literary connections, learn
vocabulary, explore the authorÕs use of story structure, and note literary
language.Students learn that
comprehension develops in layers.From an initial comprehension gained through reading, students deepen
and expand their understanding through the discussions.They learn to return to the text to
reread sentences and paragraphs in order to clarify a point or state an
opinion.Students need many
opportunities to respond to literature before they will be successful in
literature circles.One of the
best ways to prepare students for literature circle discussions is by reading
aloud to them every day and involving them in grand conversations.

Circle Talk:

There
are four kinds of ÒtalkÓ that take place during literature circles:

Talk
about the bookChildren summarize their reading and talk about
the book by applying what they have learned about the structure of stories
and other texts as they:

qRetell
events

qIdentify
main ideas

qSummarize
the plot

qDiscuss
characters

qExamine
the setting

qExplore
themes and symbols

Talk
about the reading process:Students think metacognitively and
reflect on the process they used to read the book as they:

qReflect
on how they used strategies

qExplain
their reading problems and how they solved them

qIdentify
sections that they reread and why they reread them

qTalk
about their thinking as they were reading

qIdentify
parts they understood or misunderstood

Talk
about connections:Students make connections between the book

and their
own lives as well as to other literature they have read as they:

qExplain
connections to their lives

qCompare
this book to another book

qMake
connections to a film or television show they have viewed

Talk
about group process and social issues:Children use talk to organize

the literature circle and maintain the discussion.They also use talk to

examine social issues and current events related to the
book, such as

homelessness and divorce, as they:

qDecide
who will be group leader

qDetermine
the schedule, roles, and responsibilities

qDraw
in nonparticipating students

qBring
the conversation back to the topic

qExtend
the discussion to social issues and current events

Roles Students Play in Literature Circles:

Discussion Director:The
discussion director guides the groupÕs

discussion and keeps the group on task.To get

the discussion started or to redirect the

discussion, the discussion director may ask:

áWhat did the reading make you think of?

áWhat questions do you have about the reading?

áWhat do you predict will happen next?

Passage Master:The
passage master focuses on the literary merits of

the book.This
student chooses several memorable

passages to share with the group and tells why he or

she chose each one.

Word Wizard:The
word wizard is responsible for vocabulary.This

student identifies four to six important, unfamiliar

words from the reading and looks them up in the

dictionary.The
word wizard selects the most

appropriate meaning and other interesting

information about the word to share with the group.

Connector:The
connector makes connections between the book

and the studentsÕ
lives.These connections might
include happenings at school or in the community, current events or historical
events from around the world, or something from the connectorÕs own life.Or the connector can make comparisons
with other books by the same author or on the same topic.

Summarizer:The
summarizer prepares a brief summary of the

reading to convey the main ideas to share with the

group.This student often begins the
discussion by reading the summary aloud to the group.

Illustrator:The
illustrator draws a picture or diagram related to

the reading.The illustration might relate to a

character, an exciting event, or a prediction.The

student shares the illustration with the group, and the

group talks about it before the illustrator explains it.

Investigator:The
investigator locates some information about the

book, the author, or a related topic to share with the

group.This
student may search the Internet, check an

encyclopedia or library book, or interview a person

with special expertise on the topic.

Implementing Literature Circles:

Students
begin by selecting books, and then as a group they establish a schedule for
reading and discussing the book.Students may meet with or without the teacher for these discussions. After reading, students create projects
to share their books with the class.These literature circle activities involve all five stages of the
reading process:

1.Prereading:

Teachers prepare text sets with five to seven
related titles and collect six or seven copies of each book.Teachers give a brief book talk to
introduce the new books, and then students sign up for the book they want to
read.Students need time to
preview the books.

The books in the text set vary in
length and difficulty, but students are not placed in groups according to
reading level.Students choose the
books they want to read, and as they preview the books, they consider how good
a ÒfitÓ a book is, but that is not their only consideration.They often choose the book they find
most interesting, but just as often choose the book that their friend has
chosen.They might choose a book
because they recognize that more supportive classmates are in that group.

There are usually not more than six
or seven students participating in each circle.

2.Reading:

Students
read the book independently or with a partner, depending on the difficulty
level of the book.It is possible
for students to listen to a book at the listening center if they cannot read
the book themselves.Students have
the schedule they developed so that they know when they have to complete each
reading assignment and be ready to participate in the discussion.After reading, students could prepare
for discussion by writing in reading logs, making lists of unfamiliar words,
etc.

3.Responding:

After
reading the first section of the book (or the entire book if it is a picture
book), students meet to talk about their reading.They participate in a grand conversation.The group discussion director begins
this open-ended conversation by asking, ÒWhat did you think?ÓStudent also write
in reading logs during this stage.

4.Exploring:

Literature
discussions extend into the exploring stage of the reading process.After students share their responses,
teachers often teach minilessons.They may focus on an element of story
structure, provide information about the author or the genre, or teach a
literacy skill or strategy.

5.Applying:

Students
create a project after they finish reading the book.Sometimes they plan a simple way to share the book with the
rest of the class.At other times
they may choose to develop more extensive projects.They also meet with the teacher to evaluate the literature
circle, the book, and their participation in the group.

Monitoring and Assessing StudentsÕ Learning:

There are a variety of options for monitoring studentsÕ work
and assessing their learning during literature circles.Here are some of them:

1.Observing
students:

Observe
students collaborating with classmates

Observe
students reading independently

Observe
students participating in discussions

Observe
studentsÕ sharing of books and projects

2.Monitoring
studentsÕ progress:

Monitor
studentsÕ schedules and assignment sheets.

Monitor
the sheets students complete for their roles in literature circles

3.Assessing
studentsÕ work:

Assess
studentsÕ reading log entries

Assess
studentsÕ projects

4.Examining
studentsÕ reflections:

Read
studentsÕ self-assessment letters

Examine
studentsÕ responses on the self-assessment checklist

Conference
with students about their assessment.

Benefits of Using Literature Circles:

1)Students
view themselves as readers.

2)Students
have opportunities to read high-quality books that they might not have chosen
on their own.

3)Students
read widely.

4)Students
are inspired to write.

5)Students
develop reading preferences.

6)Students
have many opportunities to develop critical and creative thinking.